


Burnt Your Tongue

by Mochibat



Category: Promare
Genre: F/F, F/M, Highschool AU, I like writing large casts so get ready for some ocs, Implied/Referenced Sexual Content, Implied/referenced period cycle, Implied/referenced transphobic and homophobic themes, M/M, Natalia (Belarus) and Thyma are implied to be friends, References to Hetalia, Trans Lio, aina is kind of a bitch at the beginning, but she gets better, mad a reference to my hetalia fanfic, other tags added later, pop culture references, spiky hair and my wrists do not go together, the fanfics take place in the same universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:00:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 19,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25052809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mochibat/pseuds/Mochibat
Summary: Lio Fotia only wanted to get an A on the assignment. What he didn't want was Galo Thymos.Galo Thymos wanted to reconnect with an old friend. What he got instead was a broken kid who wanted nothing to do with him.They both got more than they asked for.
Relationships: Galo Thymos/Aina Ardebit (onesided), Gueira/Meis (Promare), Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Comments: 3
Kudos: 19





	1. Opening the Doors to Ideas

**Author's Note:**

> "Sometimes you just need to go through a door" - Ransom Riggs

Since he was fifteen years old, Lio set his sights on one thing and one thing only. To own a bookstore. Despite the fact that he never really got along with people and his utter hatred for school, he somehow got wrapped up in the reading world. All of his allowance went to buying on sale Barns and Noble books and all different flavors of coffee.

It was quite the contrast to his personality at school. He was the trouble kid with too many suspensions and yet somehow godlike grades. The kid at the back of the class with fire in his eyes and the nerve to call people out, including the teachers. His first fight, with professor Hastus, was something no one could expect. He remembered being dragged away by poor miss Ardebit to detention while Hastus threw a sling of slurs in his direction.

Detention wasn't all that bad. The other three residents were friendly enough. Meis slept in the corner, usually having got caught defacing school property. Gueira liked pranks a little too much, and almost always took them too far. And then there was Thyma. Poor, sweet Thyma. No one knows exactly what got her in, but they could tell she didn't belong there. Other kids would go in too, but most didn't last more than a day.

The only person who came even close to their record was Lucia, a short girl with a death wish. Her experiments never ended well, and she almost burnt the science department down multiple times in the first semester alone. What made her different was she actually had friends. She had people to crawl back to after the hour of suffering.

It was just another Wednesday when he realized what he wanted. Sophomore year just started, Lio having got in trouble for punching a kid in the nose. Ardebit was lecturing him as they walked to her classroom.

"Y'know, a bookstore doesn't seem too bad," he thought out loud.

"Sorry?" Ardebit looked confused.

"A bookstore. I mean, I like reading. And coffee. So, why not?" Lio felt a laugh escape his lips, small, but relieving.

"So long as you work hard," Ardebit said as she opened up the door.

Detention was same as always. Meis snored softly, legs kicked up on the desk. Gueira had his headphones on, drawing something in his notebook. Thyma was working on homework. Lio sat down, taking his notebook out and began to outline his plan.

1\. Get a job

2\. Graduate high school

3\. Get into a good college (major in business)

4.... own a bookstore.

He need to plan this out more, but technically they could only use electronics for music. That left him with reading. As he pulled out a book, someone knocked on the door.

"It's open!" Ardebit called from her desk. In popped Aina, Ardebit's little sister. Despite being in the same grade, Aina and Lio never talked. She was one of Lucia's friends, never a rule breaker, decent grades and constantly stressed. Right behind her was Lucia herself and Galo, a tall, popular kid with obnoxiously blue hair. Everyone loved him. That made Lio despise him.

"Hey, sis, we were wondering if we could study here. Library's closed and study hall is too loud," Aina said, her eyes skimming the room of people.

"Go ahead, just don't bother detention," Ardebit replied with a nod.

"Right." The trio sat their bags down and claimed a corner far too close to Lio for his liking.

Throughout the hour, Lio noticed something. Galo was walking past him an awful lot, making up excuses to do so. Even if the thing he needed was in a different direction, he would walk past him. It was strange, especially with how unsubtle he was. He also caught Galo staring at him, the subject quickly looking away when their eyes met. _Annoying_ , was all Lio could think. The hour couldn't end soon enough.

When the bell did ring, Lio got up and waited at the door for Thyma. She never explained why, but her first few times in detention she begged Lio to walk out. Like she was afraid of something and Lio was somehow able to protect her from it. After a while, it became habit. He'd even considered her a friend after the first few months.

"Was it just me, or was Thymos trying to get your attention," Thyma asked.

"Don't know, don't care," Lio responded. "It was kind of annoying, though."

"Oh, shit, he's following," Thyma lowered her voice. "Any idea why?"

"He's a fifteen year old jock with hormones and a regular attendance in GSA. Probably just wants a smaller guy," Lio said.

"How do you know about GSA?"

"I regularly help the VP. Couldn't actually be in charge cause y'know." he waves his hand in the direction of detention. "I usually take attendance."

"Cool. Well, at least he's hot," Thyma elbowed him gently.

"You think I should _consider_ it?" Lio whisper-shouted.

"Maybe... I've talked to him a few times. He's nice."

"He's annoying! I wouldn't want to be seen wi-" Thyma not so discreetly slapped Lio's hand. Just in time, too.

"Hey," Galo waved at them as he walked past, a nervous smile spread across his face.

"Hey, Thymos," Thyma replied. Lio shot him a glare.

"So, can I talk to ya for a moment?" He turned to Lio.

"But Thy-"

"Yes, he can." Thyma held a shaky yet confident look. "I'll be fine, Lio." Before he could respond she bolted down the hall.

Lio internally groaned, turning toward Galo. "What do you want?"

"Well, you know the project coming up in ELA? I noticed you didn't have a partner and I didn't have time to catch you, so I wanted to ask if you wanted to, ya know, work on it together?" Galo rubbed the back of his neck, shifting a bit. "And, it's kind required to have a partner, so..."

Lio thought for a moment. Part of the grade was partner work, and he already knew he'd be screwed without that portion. On the other hand, it's _Galo_. The worlds most idiotic jock. The jocks of the school were always the worst. They made horrible decisions and turned getting laid into a game, betting on the next poor soul. But there was something worse about Galo.

The man was on a whole other level. He didn't even have to try, and yet there's always someone crying to their friends about how Thymos broke their heart. People worshipped the ground he walked on, and he barely noticed a thing. But emotions never got the better of Lio Fotia.

"Okay."


	2. Romeo and Juliet Isn’t the Only Thing They Learn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Young men's love lies not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes" - William Shakespeare

Galo lay on his back, staring up at the popcorn ceiling peppered with glow in the dark stars that haven't worked since third grade. He still had items from times he could barely remember, only the familiar scent ghosting his mind. Most of his childhood memories were from after the fire. It was the Ardebit family that took him in. But before that, he was alone. Orphaned by cruel flames of life.

He remembered little of his time in foster care, but one thing did stand out. He still had the photo of the caretaker and all the kids, including the caretakers last living relatives. Siblings, two sisters, about the same height. You'd never know who was older just by looking. The same pink eyes, the same long blonde hair. Even their outfits matched.

The memory, almost gone, suddenly clicked one day at lunch. It was the first day of sophomore year when a head of blonde hair pushed past him to get a table. They held eye contact briefly, but it was enough. The kid was definitely one of the sisters. But there was still something different he couldn't quite place.

He nudged Aina, who was busy texting, asking, "who's that?"

"Lio Fotia, the guy who keeps getting detention for fighting teachers." She didn't even look up.

"Fotia..." he whispered to himself.

A few weeks in, Galo learned all he could about his old caretaker. He was fairly wealthy, and had a heart that always went out to helping kids with no families. Most of his family died during a party, the hall going up in flames. The only survivors were him and his nieces. He started to foster kids, seeing as how he had more room in his house than he knew what to do with. No where did it say the nieces names, but it confirmed the mans last name as Fotia.

Lio Fotia.

That day, Galo set a goal: to reunite with Lio Fotia.

Lio was beginning to regret _everything_. Scratch that, he regretted everything before this even started. Galo had become overly nice with him, as though they were actually friends. _Does he really think us being partners gives him the right to be my friend?_ Lio pouted to himself as he sat on the bleachers by the pool.

As it turned out, Galo had almost every class with him, including swim, and Lio was less than grateful. He hugged his sides, taking a 'sick day'. A classmate was also taking a 'sick day',probably for the same reason. Senior and Vice President of the dungeons and dragons club, Ceres clung to her backpack. They talked a few times, their 'sick days' having always lined up. It must have been a really bad day for her, because she didn't bother changing out of her pajamas and her usual straight, silver hair was a rats nest.

He was about to make small talk, a way to distract both of them, when he heard his name get called. Galo waved from the diving board, soaked blue hair tied back for once (he usually forgot a hair tie). He jumped off, doing a flip mid air before hitting the water with a more than obnoxious splash. He couldn't help rolling his eyes at Galo.

He turned back to see Ceres with a smug look on her face. "What?"

"Oh, nothing," she replied, unconsciously rubbing her nose.

"If you have something to say than say it."

"I just think it's cute how hard he tries to impress you."

Lio felt heat rising in his cheeks. "Yeah, well, he isn't gonna get very far. I'll humor him for now, but once we're done with the project, I'm not even gonna look his way again."

Ceres only snorted.

The first official outside of class meeting was scheduled. Lio got there fairly early, backpack at his feet as he set up his computer. They decided to meet at a local coffee shop. This one happened to be one of Lio's favorites. He took a moment to enjoy the quiet, the smell of chocolate and coffee, the faint sound of piano from the studio next door. It was so much calmer than his everyday life at home and school.

But calm couldn't last forever.

Galo burst in, waving loudly at Lio. Customers jumped as Lio groaned to himself. "Hey, Lio. How's it going?"

"Fine," Lio muttered, taking a long sip from his coffee. "So, what scene should we do?"

The class was in the midst of a Romeo and Juliet unit, and Lio was frustrated they even had to do this. Just because someone can appreciate the comedy of Shakespeare does not mean they're having a blast with the romantic story.

"I was thinking of taking one of the battle scenes, ya know," Galo said. "We could have a sword fight!"

"We can't bring swords to school, Galo." Lio rolled his eyes, holding his cup above his mouth to get the last few drops.

"Alright... What about the scene where Juliet's on the balcony asking where Romeo is?"

"First, she's asking why he's named that, second, do you seriously want to do a romantic scene because I-"

"But I wanna play Juliet. It could work since I'm tall. We won't need an actual balcony."

"Oh my god," Lio muttered, waving his hands. "You know what, fine! I don't care what we do so long as we don't have to kiss."

"Sweet!" Galo did a small victory dance, getting a couple glares from the other patrons.

It was going to be a very long day.

School had become... _interesting_ , to say the least. Galo found himself following Lio to class, even walking him to the ones they didn't share. Lio barely talked during their walks, but Galo couldn't seem to keep his mouth shut anyway. It was no surprise when Aina and Remi confronted him about a popular new rumor he hoped Lio wouldn't catch wind of.

"Are you seriously banging Fotia. Isn't that guy, like, immune to feelings?" Aina asked.

"I-" 

"Lio's a person too, Aina. Believe it or not, but I had to help him through a break down once." Remi leaned back, arms crossed.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean shit when it comes to the fact that he's more than likely got Galo rapped around his finger!" Aina shot back.

"We-"

"You do realize this is Lio we're talking about. The kid practically runs GSA. You'd need to feel something to make sure that club stays active! Why do you think he keeps fighting teachers!" He adjusted his glasses angrily.

"Well, I-"

"It's because he's fucking insane, Remi!" Aina practically screeched.

"He's right here," Lio said from behind her. All three jumped.

"Oh, hey Lio..." Galo trailed off at the sight of his classmates pissed expression.

"So, I heard we started dating. Wonder why I haven't heard." There was an edge to his voice. His fists were clenched, to the point where they visibly shook.

"Sorry... I had no idea how the rumor started. I'll put an end to it, don't worry. I promise!" Galo begged.

Lio took a shaky breath. "I understand. Just, don't do anything stupid." He turned on his heal, about to walk off. Then he said, "and also, Ardebit, you should learn to think before you speak. Otherwise you're gonna swallow more than flies."

Aina glared at the back of his head. "You really need to cut ties with this kid."


	3. Girls Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "'Can I see it?' I reach for the letter, trying to stay calm and not sound desperate. Just casual cool.
> 
> He hesitates and then grins his perfect Peter grin. 'Nah, I want to keep it. I never got a letter like this before.'"- Jenny Han (To All The Boys I Loved Before)

Aina wished she didn't have to feel it. Anything would be better than her heartbreak. She called Lucia for a girls day, needing something to take her mind off of him.

It was just her and Lucia, sitting on a bench in the downtown area. The weather was windy, the water splashing against coral covered rocks and misting against their backs. People mingled, enjoying the sun while it lasted. Just a few more days til October, the season bringing rain and candy.

"So, what's botherin' ya this time?" Lucia asked, biting into her marshmallow on a stick.

"Do you think it's fine? For Galo, I mean?" Aina asked, staring into the paper bag of saltwater taffy.

"That he's been chasin' after Fotia? Why not? It won't hurt 'im." Lucia waved her marshmallow around. "Besides, I'm pretty sure Lio's gonna ditch 'im once the projects' done."

"Oh... wait! What project!?"

"ELA. Romeo an' Juliet. How do you not no this?" Lucia looked at her like she had taffy in her hair.

"I- I don't know. I was worried about Lio corrupting him or something!"

"Aina- look, Aina. We both know how you feel about 'im. Maybe just tell 'im. The most he'll do is turn ya down."

"Yea, I know. It's just awkward. We've lived together for years now, I don't want to make him uncomfortable."

"Hey, maybe he's got feelin's for ya, too," Lucia suggested.

"I don't know..." Aina shook her head.

"Well, there's only one way to find out!" Lucia had that grin on her face.

"Lucia. No, we can't," Aina warned.

Lucia pulled out her phone. "Oh yes we can."

Unfortunately for Galo, whatever he feels strongly about will always end up being recorded. Aina bought him a journal for his birthday once, saying whatever people didn't need to hear could go in there. A few years later and he has an entire shelf dedicated to journaling his feelings. Some were even art journals, though he had little patience and gave up after a few.

Lucia, resident nosy neighbor, decided that the best way to decipher Galo was to look through years worth of journals. Most were filled with things like planning for the future, descriptions of food he liked (mostly pizza), and things he wished he could do with his parents. Both girls found nothing special to do with Aina. Most of the time she was just mentioned as part of a memory, nothing special.

"I told you, Lucia. He's not going to write about anything romantic. I'm surprised he confirmed his type." Aina reached up for the last journal, a relatively recent one that probably wasn't even finished.

As she took it off the shelf she noticed an awkwardly turned page, like it didn't belong. She flipped to the page and...

"Holy shit!" Galo stood in front of the Fotia's front door. The house was definitely larger than his, but not quite big enough to be a mansion. The large oak door opened and a girl a little taller than Lio looked up at him. Her eyes and hair were the same shade as Lio's, but she let it grow out and curl. Her glasses looked a bit big, too.

"Hello?" She played with the sleeve of her red sweater. "Are you here to see someone?"

"Uh, yea! I'm here for Lio Fotia. I'm a classmate of his, Galo." He reached out a hand for her to shake. She smiled, accepting it.

"Nice to meet you, Galo. I'm Dia. Lio's not here right now, but you're welcome to come inside and wait," she said, opening the door more.

"Thank you. Are you his sister?" He asked.

"Yes. Younger sister, actually. Would you like something to drink?"

"No thanks, I'm fine." Galo looked around. There was a wide, wooden staircase in front of him, and the kitchen to the left. To the right was a wall filled with pictures. Many of them group photos. He recognized one immediately.

"You know anyone there," Dia asked, noticing him staring at the picture.

"Maybe," Galo stood next to the picture, trying to replicate the cheesy grin he had on that day. Dia laughed.

"I knew something about you was familiar. Weren't you the kid who helped me over a fence?"

"And out of a tree!" Galo rubbed his neck, chuckling.

"I can't believe Lio hasn't said anything about you. I remember he had the biggest-"

"Sis, I'm home," Lio called from the front door.

"Okay!" She called back. "I'll tell you about it later." She patted his arm before going to greet her brother.

Galo followed her to the kitchen, Lio having entered through the garage door. He was taking off his shoes while his sister chatted his ear off about something she saw earlier. They made eye contact, Lio raising an eyebrow.

"You invite yourself over or something, Thymos?"

"Well, we need to practice, don't we?"

"Right... tell me ahead of time next time you decide to come over. How'd you get my address, anyway?"

"Well..."

"Lio! Don't tell me you don't remember!" Dia practically jumped across the counter.

"Don't remember what?" Lio slipped his jacket off, giving her a confused expression.

"Him!" Dia motioned towards a Galo, who looked like he could faint. "Galo Thymos! He used to live with us, goddammit!"

Lio looked to Galo, who nodded quickly as a way of confirming. Going red with embarrassment, Lio walked past them. "Doesn't really matter now, though. I'm gonna get my book."

"Dia, what was it you wanted to tell me earlier, about Lio?" Galo asked. Lio stopped in his tracks, glad he was out of view behind the staircase.

"Nothing important. I'm surprised he's not hiding from you. That's what he used to do when we were kids. I can't believe he doesn't remember."

Hiding? Why would he hide from Galo? Sure, he's annoying. But not _that_ annoying.

Who did he hide from....?

As he walked up the stairs he pondered on all the people he tended to shy away from. He remembered being shy around everyone. But hiding? No. Unless...? But that would be to much of a coincidence.

He grabbed his copy of Romeo and Juliet before returning down stairs. He found Galo chatting with his sister in the living room, both of them laughing. He sat down next to Galo, opening the book to the balcony scene. He looked up to see Galo leaning over him and his sister giving him a strange look.

"So, you two doing the kiss scene or something?" She asked. Galo went red, stuttering denial while Lio calmly explained the whole Galo being tall enough for a balcony thing.

"Aw, that's too bad. You could've totally rubbed it in Haestus' face."

"He's my math teacher, Dia," Lio corrected with an eye roll. "Why are you being nosy, anyway?"

"Because," she sang while wiggling her eyebrows.

Lio glared at her, snapping his book shut. Galo, who had been unusually quiet, jumped at the sound. Lio grabbed his wrist and dragged him towards the stairs, muttering about needing space to concentrate.

"So, where are we going?" Galo not so subtly slipped his hand into Lio's.

"My room. Dia was being a distraction." Lio stopped in front of his bedroom.

"Ok. Cool." Galo smiled.

Whatever was going on, Lio was sure he'd figure it out. But for now...

"C'mon." Lio returned the hold on their hands. "We've got practice to do."


	4. Lion of God

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I think I realized that I would rather die because I betrayed them, then live because I betrayed you" - Marissa Meyer (the Lunar Chronicles)

Saturday evenings turned into practice nights for Galo and Lio. Galo reciting his lines by standing while Lio kneeled for most of his part. Galo was getting really into it, grabbing Lio's hands at the more intense parts. It didn't help that his sister kept giving him a look, like she knew something he didn't.

It was on one of these Saturdays that his uncle came home from a trip. Mr. Fotia walked inside the house to see Dia and Lio arguing over the head of blue hair.

"C'mon, Lio, why do we have to eat this! Can't we eat something else?" Dia motioned towards her plate of healthy greens and chicken.

"Like pizza?" Galo suggested.

"Yeah, like pizza!" The two nodded in approval.

"I already made this! At least eat it!" Lio countered, balancing on the chair with his knees so he could be taller.

Mr. Fotia muttered a 'welcome home' to himself before sighing and saying, "if Lio made dinner you need to eat it."

Dia grinned and jumped out of her seat. "Uncle, uncle! Guess who Lio found at school? He found Galo! You remember him? He helped me out of a tree once!"

Mr. Fotia chuckled, holding out a hand. "Mr. Fotia. Nice to see you again."

"Thanks, Galo Thymos." Galo returned the shake with a wide grin, much like the one in the photo.

"Wow, you really are him," Mr. Fotia said as realization spread across his face.

"Uh..., yeah..." Galo felt his voice crack.

"Sorry," Mr. Fotia let out a nervous chuckle. "I just wasn't expecting to see you after so long."

"Yeah," Galo agreed. "Feels like it's been forever!"

While the two continued to chat, Dia whispered softly to her brother, "You should ask Galo to spend the night."

"What! Why?" Lio whisper-yelled.

"It's getting kinda late. It'd be rude to-"

"You should probably spend the night, since it's so late and all." Mr. Fotia beat them to it.

"Thanks a lot. Are you sure, though? I don't want to cause trouble, ya know." Galo rubbed the back of his neck.

"It's no trouble at all. We don't mind."

Lio minded. He angrily stabbed his ceaser salad, trying to distract himself from the... problem. Dia gave him a smirk, knowing he couldn't do a thing.

Galo was given an air mattress to sleep on. Lio helped set it up. Galo was told to sleep in his room, despite Lio's protests. Once the mattress was ready, Galo grabbed some blankets and lay down.

"I'm going to change," Lio said, pointing at the closet door. When he disappeared behind it, Galo mentally screamed.

It had become obvious that Lio's family wanted them to get together. Why, he wasn't certain. Sure, Lio was cute and amazingly smart and just about everything Galo liked in a person. But he also made it clear that he didn't really like Galo. At all. He was only putting up with him. It kind of stung.

Lio, meanwhile, was having trouble with the idea of what to wear. The idea of Galo seeing him in pajamas unsettled him. Knowing that he'd be able to see him sleeping made him want to run to the woods and spend the night there. It was weird having someone who's not family seeing him so vulnerable. He eventually decided on a large black shirt and blue shorts.

Pretending to be fine, Lio walked out of the closet. Galo was laying on top of the blankets, wearing a pair of shorts and, well... no shirt. Lio felt a rush of heat to his face as he quickly turned the light off. He tried stumbling to bed while his eyes still adjusting, only to trip and fall on Galo.

"Woah there! You okay?" Galo asked, moving to help Lio.

Lio stared back at him, too flustered to move. _He's so close!_ He thought. _And warm! How can anyone be this hot on such a cold night?!_

"I, uh, I..."

Galo grabbed Lio, helping them sit up. Lio practically sat on his lap, so close he could feel his breath.

"Jeez, you're so cold." Galo took Lio's hands, grinning. He then moves them to Lio's shoulders, gently sliding them down towards his hips.

_Are we really doing this? Isn't it a little soon? Oh shit! Shit shit shit shit shi-_

"Holy fuck, you're skinnier than a toothpick! Are you eating properly? Seriously, how can someone be this skinny? Do you need a doctor?We should get you to a doctor. Let's do that no-"

"Pfft." Lio couldn't take it. Here he was, thinking Galo was going for it, only to have him worry about his health. He laughed harder.

"What? What's so funny?" Galo looked around, confused.

"Nothing," Lio managed. "You just... heh, can't stop- pfft, surprising- haha, me."

"Oh." Galo breathed. "Well, you-"

Lio put a finger to his lips. "And I eat fine. Just a bit malnourished in my youth."

"Oh."

"Goodnight." Lio slid away, crawling onto his bed.

"Good- goodnight," Galo mumbled.

That night, Lio dreamed of a time from his past.

_He was sitting on a swing, the sweltering heat beating down on his back. Birds sang in the background of his most treasured day. The day he shared a popsicle with his crush. He was nine at the time, just beginning to ask people to call him by a different name._

_"So, Ariel, why'd you want to hang out?" The boy had just turned ten, blue eyes so full of energy._

_"Can you call me something else please. I don't like that name." He tried hiding his face behind his long blond hair._

_"Sure. What's Ariel mean, anyway?" He stuck his half of the popsicle in his mouth._

_"Lion of God, I'm pretty sure."_

_"Then I'll call you Lio." Blue Eyes grabbed his hand. "Is that all?"_

_"Why are you leaving me?" It was a heavy question, neither knowing the answer. But he had to ask._

_"I-I don't know." Blue Eyes choked back tears. "I don't want to."_

_"So don't!" Lio stood up, in front of him. "Stay with me forever."_

_"I-"_

_"Galo! It's time!" A voice called out to them._

_Galo looked up at Lio, scared beyond belief. "I'll miss you, Lio."_

_He kissed both of Lio's hands before letting go, walking away from him._

_He was long out of earshot before Lio whispered his confession, the first of many tears trickling down his face._

Lio woke up crying. It was close to two in the morning. Galo leaned over him with a worried expression. He was asking questions, but Lio was too out of it to even think clearly.

Galo moved, the weight of the bed shifting. Lio was turned around to face him, strong arms embracing him. He cried until he fell back asleep.

That night he dreamed of fire.


	5. They’re Totally Symbiotic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "A girl starts trying to kill you, you know she's into you." - Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson and the Olympians)

Lio Fotia woke up to a heavy weight on his body and something wet on his forehead. He shrieked, launching himself from the bed and shoving the weight away from him. He landed on the floor with a loud thud. Above him, Galo Thymos rubbed sleep from his eyes, muttering, "what the fuck?"

"Why were you in my bed!?" Lio accused.

"Why are you screaming?" Galo looked at Lio like it was him who was in the wrong.

"Why were you sleeping with me?" Lio continued.

"Why were you crying?"

"Why- what?" Lio faltered. Crying? He didn't remember crying.

"Last night. You were crying. Screamed a bit, too," Galo said.

"I- I'm sorry." Lio looked down. He didn't know what to do.

"Don't be." Galo pulled Lio up onto the bed. "Nightmares are nothing to sneeze at, but you're not at fault."

"I'm talking about the screaming," Lio said.

"Don't be sorry for that either. You didn't know." Galo pulled him into a hug. Lio noticed the trail of dried up drool on his chin. Of coarse the man drooled in his sleep. He returned the embrace.

"Thank you," he whispered softly.

"Mn-hmn." He felt Galo nod, chin resting on the top of his head. "And if you ever need anything, just call, m'kay?"

"Okay." Lio smiled against his chest, letting himself sink into the warmth.

Monday came with a rather awkward lunch period. Lio was sitting at his lunch table with Thyma. The two were immersed in a game of Uno, Lio winning. Thyma talked about the girl she managed to become aquatinted with in ELA. Some blond chick with really pretty eyes.

"So, you gonna go after her?" Lio asked.

"Nah, she's got enough people chasing her down. Besides, she doesn't want to date. I can see why." Thyma motioned over to a group a few tables over. The pretty blond was busy yelling at some poor guy with a bowl cut and glasses.

"Yikes," Lio said.

"Tell me about it. Well, that's what's going on in Freshieworld. What's happening in yours?" She slapped a card down.

"Well, GSA is helping plan the fall carnival. This kid in one of my classes finally showed up. Apparently he was out sick. He _still_ doesn't look well. Other than that, nothing," Lio said with boredom.

"Mhm. Sure...." she gave him a grin, wiggling her eyebrows.

"What?" Lio got defensive.

"Oh, you know who I'm referring to." She continued to wiggle her eyebrows. "Future Mr. Thymos."

"Shut up!" Lio went red.

"Awe, you're totally blushing. You like him~ You like him~" Thyma sang, poking him.

"Like who?" They both froze. The pretty blond from before stood behind Thyma. Thyma got a wicked gleam in her eyes.

"You like bets? 'Cause I got twenty dollars that Lio and Galo will get together before your weird not-couple-couple friends!" Thyma shouted.

"Deal!" The girl slammed her palm onto the table.

"Don't bet on my love life!" Lio stood up.

"Love life?" Three heads turned to a squeaky voice. Lucia and Aina stood behind Lio, Aina's hands visibly shaking as she gripped her lunch tray.

"Fuck," Lio muttered. Thyma and the blond bolted. "It's none of your concern."

"Oh, I think it is," Lucia said, squeezing herself by Lio and putting her arm around him. "We've noticed you've taken a liking to our dear Galo. Got anything to say, hm?"

"Whatever your thinking, Galo and I are barely even friends. We have nothing to do with each other outside of school," Lio defended.

"Really? Mnhm." Lucia pulled out her phone to show him a picture. "Ya sure 'bout that?"

Lio took a moment to study the photo. It was one of the pictures hanging on the wall at his house. He spotted his sister, as well as himself, almost immediately. "It's just an old picture?"

"Try again," Lucia pressed. Lio continued, scanning the faces, wracking his brain. Just when he got to a familiar face the phone was snatched away.

"That's enough!" Aina was red with anger, looked like she was going to kill them. "What are you trying to do?"

"My job. Galo's my best pal. We stick together." Lucia pounded her chest with her fist. She then turned to Lio and whispered, "I can tell ya like 'im. Treat 'im well, mkay."

Lio nodded, cheeks warming. Lucia patted his back before springing to her feet. "I'm starving! Let's go eat!"

Aina walked up to Lio, getting in his face. "You don't deserve him," she spat, turning on her heel to walk away.

"Bitch," Lio muttered, beginning to pick up the unfinished card game.

Piano played softly in the background. Aina, Galo and Heris stood in the music room, waiting for Remi to finish speaking with Mr. Truss about the next concert. Truss was a student teacher who wanted to do something with music. Most would expect him to go into something like basketball, but he surprisingly liked band more.

"Thank you, sir. See you Wednesday!" Remi waved goodbye. "So, what's today's homework?"

"I just need to finish the geometry packet from the other day," Galo said.

"Social studies. You?" Aina nodded toward Remi.

"This baby right here," he said, patting his black clarinet case.

They walked out into the hallway, making plans to study, when they ran into Lucia and her _special guest_. "Looky whose gonna join our study session tonight," she said with her arm around a very fidgety Lio Fotia.

"Uhh..." "Sweet!" Galo interrupted Aina, grabbing Lio's hand. "That means we can practice more on our scene."

"Yeah... I guess we can..." Lio tried to hide his face under his bangs.

Lucia would not shut up. Her grating voice was blessing the ears of Aina and Remi, who were on either side of her. Remi made the smart decision and put in earbuds. Aina, the poor soul, forgot headphones and was stuck listening to Lucia go on and on about symbiotic relationships. Lio kept tensing whenever the word relationship or partnership came out of Lucia, and for once Aina sympathized with him. One thing they could both agree on was that Lucia didn't know when to stop. And it just got better from there.

"Heh. I guess you could say Lio and I got something like that.. what was it called? Symptomatic? Synthetic?" Galo commented.

"Symbiotic," Lucia corrected.

"Yeah, symbiotic." Galo snapped his fingers, nodding in approval.

Lio curled up in a ball. He gave Aina a flustered look, like it wasn't his idea to be here. Aina sighed and looked out the window. She could just tell Lucia to stop, but that would only make her push the situation further.

"What do you think, Lio?" Lucia leaned over his shoulder.

"Who cares!?" Lio squeaked.

"I do," Galo said.

"I- well- I don't-"

"You don't think we're symbiotic?" Galo faltered. He looked like a kicked puppy.

"No- yes? I mean, maybe?" _Shit shit shit shit,_ Lio thought as he bit his lip.

"It doesn't matter," Aina cut in before it escalated further. "Symbiotic or not, you still have to work together."

The wide-eyed look Lio gave her somehow reassured her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to sneak in a reference to one of my other fanfics, When the Sea Waves. The pretty blonde is Natalia. The other couple in the bet is Alfred and Kiku (ameripan). If you're into hetelia or just want to read more of my works feel free to check it out. I'd greatly appreciated the support. Thank you for reading and I wish everyone well!


	6. A Garden of Roses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Yes. I am happy. Because I was able to meet someone like you" - (Kaiu Shirai, The Promised Neverland)

Studying went about as well as Lio expected. Between Remi trying to learn a new piece, Lucia cackling at memes instead of studying, and Galo being, well, _Galo_ , Lio found it hard to focus on his own work. The only person who seemed to share his pain was surprisingly Aina. She must have been in a good mood because she seemed to keep giving the blond looks of pity.

"So, hows the project comin' along?" Lucia asked, eyeing both Galo and Lio.

"Fine," Lio stated. It was obvious she was trying to get something out of it, like juicy gossip, but really the only thing worth gossiping about was the fact that Galo was the most dramatic partner he'd ever had. Ever. He put theater kids to shame. "How's the P.E. Grade coming along."

"Fuck ya too," Lucia grumbled. He must have hit a sore spot.

"Well, it's not like we're the most athletic bunch," Remi said. He grabbed a juice box and tossed it to Lucia, who greedily snatched it from the air with a 'hell yeah, bitch'.

"Hey!" Galo and Aina exclaimed in unison. Aina grabbed the front of her hoodie, which had the school's girl's softball logo written across it. "I don't wear this for nothing!"

"Hey, Lio! You gonna try out a sport? Baseball could always use more members!" Galo said, giving him a nudge with his elbow.

Lio frowned. Sure, he was skinny. But that wasn't due to sports. His mother had him earlier, and she was sick. It was a miracle he survived without any major consequences. He did get asthma when he played too rough as a kid. Scared the shit out of his parents. There was also his anemia. And the seasonal allergies he was plagued with. No, he didn't like sports. Not very much at all.

"I've got clubs, Galo. You can't expect me to drop everything for _baseball_."

"Well, you can at least come to the games. We don't start til spring, so it'll be a while," Galo said, grinning ear to ear. The man really expected Lio to show up.

"If I have time." _If we're even friends still. Lio gave him a the tiniest smirk._

"We can work it out." Galo then, _oh so casually,_ wrapped his arm around Lio and started playing with his hair.

This got Aina frowning. Her glare bore into Lio's skull. He decided to do a (slightly) petty thing and stuck his tongue out at her, causing Lucia to loudly snort.

"Hey, Aina? Something the matter?" Galo asked.

"...no" Aina looked down, cheeks heated. She grabbed the remote, muttering something about changing the channel. This got the conversation to focus on a different subject.

As they argued over which show to watch, a documentary about Ancient Egypt or a horror anime about kids living in an orphanage, Galo whispered to Lio, "your hair's so soft. How'd you get it like this?"

Lio leaned in close, whispering back, "there's coconut in my conditioner."

"Ah, okay." They went back to paying attention, the group deciding on the horror.

As interesting as the show was, Lio found himself falling asleep. He was suddenly awoken by movement. Slowly opening his eyes, he realized everyone except Galo left. The reason he even woke up was because Galo was trying to move out from under him.

"Galo," Lio mumbled, voice cracking slightly.

"Hey there firefly," Galo said in a hushed tone. He ran his fingers through Lio's hair. "It's pretty late. I called your sister. You okay spending the night?"

Lio nodded. He pushed himself up and let Galo lead him to the bedroom. Galo handed him one of his t-shirts and a pair of shorts.

"Sorry. They're a bit big," Galo apologized.

"It's fine." Rubbing his eyes, Lio walked to the bathroom to change.

After pulling the shirt on, he realized just how big it was. The end was just above the knees. When he walked out, Aina was stumbling through the hall towards the kitchen. She froze, noticing Lio. Creased eyebrows and a steady stare, she muttered to herself something Lio assumed was meant to be an insult before turning around and stomping off.

He shook his head. Aina was just jealous. Read into his and Galo's partnership too much. Way too much. He walked back into Galo's room and flopped onto the bed. It was big enough that both could sleep on it comfortably without getting entangled. Lio turned his head and squinted at Galo, who watched his dramatic show with amusement.

"What's her deal?" It slipped out before he could stop it. "All she ever does is glare at me and get all huffy."

"I'm sure this person is just feeling a bit bitter. Probably didn't get enough sleep," Galo replied. The carefree, oblivious look on his face made Lio pissed. He didn't even know why he was getting pissed.

"She's jealous, Thymos. And I don't even know why. I didn't choose this! She of all people should know that. I'm not in her way or anything." Lio folded his arms across his chest and kicked his feet a bit.

"Well, she obviously sees something you have. You have the advantage in her eyes," Galo reasoned. "What's this about, anyway?"

Lio sighed. "This girl likes this guy and won't make a move because of me. Thing is, I'm not exactly in the way."

Galo thought for a moment. Then he made an 'oh' expression, coming to a conclusion. "Maybe the guy likes you. Think about it. She won't make any moves and I bet she sees you and the guy as being close."

Lio processed those words. Words that echoed through his head like coyotes howling in a valley. _'Maybe the guy likes you.'_

"Galo?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you partner up with me?"

_"Galo Thymos," his mother's voice called out. "This is one of your father's business partners. Say hello."_

_Galo looked up from his LEGOs. The man that stood in the doorway was tall, mysterious, with a face he could only describe as a hawks glare. Intelligent, cunning. Dangerous._

_The man knelt down and extended a hand. His expression changed. Suddenly. Quickly. Like a shapeshifter in the stories his parents read him every night._

_"I am Kray Foresight. Hello, Galo Thymos."_

_And just like that, something changed. Maybe it was the way he was dressed, in a plain white suit. Maybe it was the way he smelled, like chemicals and smoke. Or maybe it was the smile, so gentle compared to the expression he had entered with. But Galo knew his world was about to change. Change in the most horrible way._

_The next time he saw that face, it was filled with guilt and sorrow. And something a little more dreadful that Galo couldn't place at thetime._

_The face of murder._

_The face of a job well done._

Galo wanted to come up with a concrete answer for why he chose Lio as his partner. At the time, he thought it was because he was an old friend. Someone he could reconnect with. At a later date, it was because he liked him. Now, laying side by side with the boy he'd grown to love in such a short amount of time, he could barely think at all.

"Maybe it was the way you dressed. All black and grey, with those bright ass, neon pinkshoes." Lio snorted at that. Galo liked it when he laughed. "Maybe it was the way you smelled, like cinnamon and sugar, but also vaguely of a campfire." Lio looked a bit miffed and sniffed himself. "Don't worry, you don't smell bad. Maybe..." Galo sighed longingly, staring up at the popcorn ceiling. "Maybe it was the look on your face, so confident, but at the same time so scared. I don't think I've ever seen anyone wear an expression quite like that. It was..."

He glanced at Lio, flushed red and staring at him, making him feel naked.   


https://friendlymochibatart.tumblr.com/post/622592496628793344/chapter-6-of-burnt-your-tongue-is-up-i-decided-to

(link to drawing)

"God, look at me rambling. It's a school night. We should get to bed." Galo reached over Lio and turned out the light, hoping he wasn't blushing too hard. "Night, Lio."

He felt the weight of the bed shift as Lio scooted closer. "Goodnight, Galo Thymos."

_He dreamed of flames, dancing across his palm. He smiled as they changed color. Pink, teal, orange, purple. The flame seemed to laugh. He laughed too. The flame guided him through the house, blocking out the noise with its laughter. Such childlike glee coming from the flames._

_Then it's dark._

_The flames were behind him, red and yellow and black. A sickening scent came from it. He heard it. The screams. His sister is at his feet, sobbing. His uncle on the phone. He looked across the field and made eye contact with someone. His eyes a dark glare, reminding him of a hawk. He makes his way into the night, never to be seen again._

_The fire was no accident._

_The dream shifted. He was older now, staring at the remains of a place he barely got the chance to call home. Galo was next to him, a hand held tightly in his own. He looked kind of sad. Lonely. Like he was missing something important. But when he turned to look at Lio, it was like he had everything he loved right in front of him, and he refused to lose it._

_"So, I guess you figured me out," Galo said. He chuckled awkwardly. "Funny, considering I don't know the full extent like you do."_

_"Galo?"_

_"Yeah?"_

_"I won't burn away. I won't turn to ashes. I promise."_

_"Good. Neither will I." They turned back. Instead the ruins of a burning house, there was a garden. A garden full of roses._

_Lio walked forward, leading Galo through the garden. He picked a flower, careful of it's thorns. Galo accepted it when it was passed to him._

_A hearth burned in the middle of the garden. It didn't smell of smoke or wood. It smelled of chocolate and cinnamon. They sat on a marble bench, content with watching the flames rise higher and higher into the sky._

_"We're going to have to do our project soon," Lio said. "What then?"_

_"What then?" Galo smiled. "Well, I guess that's up to you. I still wanna be your friend. Maybe something more.... But it's your decision."_

_"What if I don't know what to do?" Lio frowned._

_"Don't fly to close to the sun. But don't get to close to the water either. Take your time," Galo said._

_Lio leaned his head on Galo's shoulder, arms wrapped around him. "You're pretty smart, you know. For an idiot, I mean."_

_"Awe, geez. You're gonna make me blush."_

_Lio laughed. The flames in the hearth laughed with them, growing pink and teal. It reminded him of a sunset. Such a beautiful sunset._

_*Slam*_

Lio grunted. He was pushed up against the lockers, some jock he barely even knew snearing and spitting in his face. He tuned out the words. Sure, he was known throughout the school for defending others. He had gotten in one too many fist fights to prove that. But now, with himself on the line, he barely moved a muscle.

_The kid's just letting off some steam_ , he thought as the kid screamed in his face. _He'll leave after a minute or two_.

The kid didn't need to leave. Someone punched him out of the way. Lio landed his knees with a heavy thump. Suddenly, everything was too loud. The sickening crunch as the jock's nose got broken. The shouts as people cheered and booed. Teachers pushing through to break up the fight. Someone grabbed him. As he was being lead off, he caught a glimpse of long black hair and blood.

Lio sat in the nurse's office. Aina was answering questions as the middle aged lady ran around. He was vaguely aware he was bleeding from the forehead. He got knocked into the locker pretty hard, especially when the mystery kid came to the rescue. Suddenly the door burst open. Despite the nurse protesting, Galo ran up to Lio and hugged him close.

Galo's voice was faint, background noise to him. He felt someone grab his hand and assumed it was Aina. He squeezed it, letting a few tears fall as the throbbing in his head increased.

The nurse was saying something about a doctor. Galo said something about a ride. Next thing he knew, he was being lead out into the parking lot. He was put in the passenger seat. Galo got behind the wheel. Galo could drive. He almost forgot.

The hospital was a blur. He caught something about a concussion and his health. His uncle was there, worrying about nonsense. Galo never let go of his hand. Just as his sister arrived, the world faded to black.


	7. A Garden of Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "As long as there is people to repair the ship, it can last forever" - France (hetalia English dub)

_He was back in the garden. His head rested on Galo's lap, sunlight catching his eye. Galo wore a content smile. Rose petals danced past them in the warm breeze. He felt like he could stay there forever._

_"You can't," Galo said, seemingly reading his thoughts._

_"And why not? This place is lovely. The roses, the hearth... you..." Lio felt himself whisper that last part._

_"But I'm not here. Not really. You know that," Galo sighed. "They are waiting for you. I'm waiting for you."_

_Lio frowned. "Okay. You'll wait for me?"_

_"Of course."_

_Lio closed his eyes, the dream fading away._

Lio's eyes shot open.

The lights were off. He was in a bed. Not his bed. The blanket was paper thin. He looked to his right. Dia slept in a chair under the window. It was the middle of the night, rain pattering strongly against the building.

He was in a hospital.

Lio sat up slowly. It almost felt unreal, like he was still dreaming. He dug his phone out of his pocket and checked his messages. It was mostly full of Uncle Fotia and Dia asking how he was doing. A couple of worried texts from Thyma. Galo sent multiple texts begging him to call when he woke up. A bit of an overreaction but it's Galo, so what's new? Aina sent exactly one text wishing him well. He didn't even remember getting _her_ number.

Trying to be as quiet as possible, he texted Galo.

LIO: just woke up. Don't call me! Sis is asleep

GALO: ...

GALO: no prob! How r u feeling

LIO: like hell

GALO: oof. Ill come visit tomato

GALO: *tomarrow

LIO: k. Make sure to get some rest

GALO: 😴😴😴

LIO: dork *eye roll*

GALO: night 💖

LIO: Night

Lio went to Pinterest, scrolling through the Halloween crafts and costumes. He almost forgot about the holiday. He wondered what he would do. Some kids his age would go trick or treating or go to parties. While all those were fun and good, Lio found the parties to be rather dumb and knew for a fact that he'd get more doors slammed in his face than candy.

Oh well. He could probably just watch horror movies in his room again.

The next day, Galo tried to skip school to see Lio. Heris, Aina, and Lio were having none of it, so Lio didn't see any familiar faces until after school was done.

Surprisingly, Galo was not the first person to show up.

Lio heard a knock on the door. "Come in," he said, setting aside the book his sister brought him.

At first he didn't know what to think. He was expecting Galo or Dia or even Aina. What he did not expect was a tall, pale young man with eyes full of rage and an arm in a cast. Bruises littered his face and exposed arm, and his upper lip was stitched. His ink black hair was tied back in a bun and his tank top said _heart belongs to Texas_ with said state printed on in blue.

When he spoke, it was like some weird mix between a southern and a Japanese accent. "May I sit."

Lio nodded, too stunned to talk. Sure, he'd been in detention with him before, but they never really talked. The man was far above him. Popular, considered more of a badass than Lio could ever be, and everyone loved him. Jocks hated him, geeks feared him and preps swooned over him. The one and only.

Meis Jones.

A lot of kids had the last name Jones. But none of them came close to Meis. Just his very presence made Lio feel like he was next to a powerful being. Possibly even a deity. Even beaten and bruised, Meis was someone you didn't mess with. Lio couldn't help but avert his gaze.

"So... you were there?" Lio glanced up, heat rising in his cheeks.

"Mhm," Meis confirmed with a simple nod. "Just wanted to check on you."

"Okay."

"..."

"..."

"So, how are you?"

"Okay."

The silence dragged on. Achingly long. Lio fiddled with the blanket, silently praying he wouldn't have to sit through this torture for too long.

Whether it was luck or a curse, it was on his side because Galo marched in like some sort of savior. "Hey Lio, I- oh, woah."

"Hello Thymos," Lio said, completely ignoring Galo's look of shock and Meis' icy stare glaring the blue haired kid down.

Meis stood up, glancing down at Lio. "They give you any trouble, i got your back."

He stalked past Galo, eyes only ever leaving him when he got to the door.

"That was intense," Galo muttered after a moment of silence.

"You've come to check on me too?" Lio asked with a smirk.

"Obviously," Galo chuckled. "You feeling good?"

"Normal, yes." Lio pat the edge of the bed. "Why don't you sit down."

Galo took the invitation eagerly, taking place next to Lio. "Are they gonna let you out anytime soon. I miss you."

"Later tonight," Lio said. He leaned against Galo's shoulder.

"Lucia's throwing a party for Halloween. She wanted me to tell you since she doesn't have your number."

"Cool. I guess I'm gonna need a costume," Lio murmured.

"Yeah! I already know what I'm going as! It's a... you know what, it's a surprise." Galo folded his arms in confidence.

"Hehe. I can't wait. Can't you just tell me now?" Lio smiled.

"Nope."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pleeaaaasssee?"

"Nooooo."

"Awe, c'mon." Lio shook Galo. "I've grown so impatient I could die, Galo."

"I can't be broken." Galo looked away, ears flushed. Lio got an idea. A stupid one, he later thought, but at that moment he couldn't care less.

He grabbed Galo's face and turned him back. They were so close, Lio swore he'd felt Galo's breath on his lips. He smiled, heart thumping against his chest. The way Galo looked at him, red in the face and eyes wide, made him feel something he couldn't describe. Powerful and vulnerable at the same time.

"Are you sure about that?" Lio whispered. Galo gulped.

Then Galo sneezed.

"Goddammit," Lio shouted in response. He started laughing. Of course he would sneeze.

"Oh my god, Lio. I'm so sorry," Galo apologized. Lio kept laughing, holding his stomach. Galo grabbed his shoulder. "Uh, Lio? You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine," Lio managed between waves of laughter. Once he calmed down enough, he smiled. "You're cute, Thymos."

Galo's face went beat red. He scratched the back of his neck and looked away. "Yeah, hehe."

Dia walked through the door. "What's all the noise about?"

"Galo sneezed in my face," Lio said nonchalantly.

"Hey!" Galo turned to him with a pleading look.

"Don't hey me. It's true!" Lio countered.

The two begun bickering, Dia muttering, "You're so weird."

Galo got home and collapsed on the couch with a groan. Aina popped her head out of the kitchen, asking, "the fuck happened to you?"

"Language!" Heris called.

"I-I think this it it. It's the end of me," Galo muttered, hiding his face behind his arm.

"Oh, jeez Galo. What's ending you?" Aina said as she leaned on the wall.

"I think I'm in love."

Aina got a hopeful glint in her eye. "Love?"

"Yeah. Love."

"Who is it?" Aina couldn't help but ask.

"You promise to keep it a secret?" Galo peeked out from under his arm.

"I swear it." Aina nodded eagerly.

"Okay." Galo looked up at the ceiling. "I think I'm in love with Lio Fotia."

Being back at school was a little strange. It felt like he had missed an entire month of gossip. Thyma found herself a potential girlfriend in the form of a frizzy hair girl from Seychelles. Some kid named Alfred was hosting a sleepover that Natalia claimed her family was forcing her to go to. Katie Gardner, one of the few seniors in his swim class, broke her leg. Ceres rapped about safety navigating to your bus stop on the school's news channel.

And that wasn't even the tea. No, the real gossip came from Gueira of all people. He ran up to Lio in the hall (a feat of itself with it being crowded). Grabbing his shoulder, he practically shouted, "Dude! Galo Thymos is, like, totally in love with you! How sick is that!"

The entire hall went silent. Lio's ears burned. As people slowly went back to their business, Lio pushed forward.

"Hold up! Isn't this exciting? THE Galo Thymos. God, the amount of people who would want to be in your shoes-"

"He's an idiot! More than an idiot, he's fucking insane! He's just like the rest of those stupid goddamn jocks!" Lio stormed off.

_Of coarse he'd do this,_ Lio thought. _He walks in, tries to win me over with cheap flirting, and expects to get me! God, I'm an idiot. I trusted him..._

Lio found himself in an empty classroom. Well, almost empty. Meis was sitting on the teachers desk, carving something rather inappropriate into the wood. He didn't look up, only said, "guess I'm not the only one with feelings today."

Lio frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean." He slid off the desk, a hateful glint in his eyes. "You're not the only one screwed over." He handed the blade to Lio. It wasn't even a proper blade. Just a piece of metal.

Meis smiled. "Want to have some fun?"

Lunch was surprisingly Lio-less. Galo was hoping he'd see the shorter. He sat down across from Thyma with a huff.

"Missing your boyfriend?" Thyma giggled.

"He's not my boyfriend," Galo whined. "God, I don't even know if he wants that!"

"What do you mean by that?" Thyma asked, taking a bite out of her sandwich.

"When he was at the hospital, I went to visit him. I'm pretty sure he started flirting but now I don't know. I think I ruined it!" He laid his head on the table.

"You ruined it?" Thyma gave him a raised eyebrow.

"I sneezed in his face!" Galo cried, throwing up his arms. "I'm a disaster!"

"There, there," Thyma comforted while patting his head.

"Will Lio Fotia and Meis Jones please come to the main office," a voice over the intercom said. "I repeat: Lio Fotia and Meis Jones to the main office."

"A two day suspension and a month of detention Mr. Fotia," the principal said. Her pale purple hair was tied tightly in a bun. Mrs. Colossus barely gave him a glance as she sentenced him. "I sincerely hope you've learned from this. I know you stand up for others, and you're motives are noble, but this is too far. I'll have the office call your uncle. You can choose to stay here and wait for the bus, or you can go home now."

Lio only nodded numbly he was getting off easy. He knew it. He was a 'troubled rich kid' from an almost completely white family. It was unfair. He should have gotten into more trouble. But all he could do was nod numbly and make his way out the door.

Meis had an audience with the vice principal. He grinned and held up a piece sign. "Only two weeks. Lucky me!"

Lio nodded numbly. Again.

_Why? Why did I do it?_ He thought. It was fine initially. Just carve some art into one of the wooden benches outside. Then it escalated to painting the benches. Then the wall. The trees. The signs. Everywhere. Finally, a teacher caught them. They ran. The office called them. Security grabbed them and dragged them inside.

Mr. Hastus was in the office, a triumphant smirk on his face. Lio didn't even hesitate to flip him off. Then he was in front of the principal, who obviously didn't have enough time on her hands to properly look into the subject.

And then he was home. His uncle was busy, only enough time to give him a ride home. And a lecture. It barely even registered in Lio's brain. He was on the couch. Nothing good was on. He ended up falling asleep.

_His garden was burning. Galo sat at that bench, the flames catching his shirt._

_"So this is what I get?" Galo asked. "This is what I get for waiting?"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, yeah. It's not even close to Halloween. 
> 
> I dropped a reference to Percy Jackson. Anyone remember Katie Gardener?
> 
> And about Meis' last name, his father was from Texas. Mom had a Japanese last name before getting married.


	8. Don’t Kiss, Just Make Up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “I know who I was this morning, but I’ve changed a few times since then.” - Alice In Wonderland.

"You told me you would keep it a secret!"

"I didn't think you meant Lucia!"

"I always mean Lucia! She'll blab to the entire universe!" Galo pounded his fist into the nearest pillow. "The two of you always manage to ruin everything."

"And what is that supposed to mean!" Aina jumped up from her seat.

"You don't understand! Every time I get close enough to someone that I think I might have a relationship for once, you or Lucia or- or _someone_ gets in the way!"

"And how is that an issue! You're good with people. You make up with them in the end."

"But this is different!"

"There's nothing different-"

"Yes there is! This is my second chance!"

"Second chance at what, Galo? At love? At life? It's Lio, for fuck sake! He was gonna ditch you anyway. He missed the project! So what! You do realize that's the only reason he put up with your bullshit!"

"You're wrong." Galo stormed away, slamming his bedroom door closed.

He took out his phone and called Lio. The buzzing went on for what felt like an eternity.

"Hey, this is Lio. Sorry I missed-"

Galo hung up. Voicemail again. The amount of times he called only for the same unnatural tone was unbearable. His fist shook. He wanted to throw his phone out the window. Instead he dropped it on the bed, himself following. He hung his head. _What the hell happened Lio?_

Those two days of school dragged on. Monday was boring as ever. But without Lio snide comments and sarcastic banter, it wasn't the same. He sat next to Thyma during lunch, trying to avoid another argument with Aina. Most teachers took notice of his lack of participation in class, asking multiple questions about his wellbeing. He just lied and waved them off. Mr. Haestus gave him an extra hard time for 'dating' the 'rotten ass punk' and that he 'should have been expelled at least.'

"We aren't dating. And you need to treat people better. It's no wonder everyone hates you..." Galo glared at the teacher's turned back.

"I heard that, Thymos! Detention this Wednesday. Maybe you'll get to see your little friend," Mr. Haestus barked.

"I swear that man has it out for you," Arthur, one of his classmates who apparently moved from England, said. He patted Galo's shoulder. "Good luck, mate."

Galo nodded. He picked up his bag and marched out to his next class.

Tuesday was almost the same. He didn't have any Haestus-like teachers that day, so that was a plus. Lucia apologized for blabbing about his feelings for Lio.

"It's fine. He probably just hates my guts now."

"Really? I thought he liked ya back?"

"..."

"..."

"Really?!" Galo shrieked, practically jumping across the table.

"Settle down back there!" Their psychology teacher called.

"Okay," Lucia responded, turning back to Galo. "Yeah, I was talkin' to him a while back. He didn't say it outright, but when I suggested that he might be crushin' on ya, he got all flustered n' stuff. Didn't deny anythin' either."

"Wow," Galo breathed, sitting back in his seat. "Wait, then why hasn't he answered any of my calls?"

"Probably got his phone takin' away."

"No, can't be that. He leaves me on read all the time."

"Maybe he's embarrassed? I mean, who would've thought that their crush not only likes 'em, but is also in love with 'em." Lucia took out a box of strawberry pocky and struggled with opening the wrapper.

"I guess you're right. I'm just going to have to explain."

"Fuck!" Lucia shouted as the bag exploded, chunks of pocky flying across the room. "Sorry, accident!" She, Galo, and a couple of others rushed to clean the mess in fear of losing their snack privileges. "It would be smart. The problem... is will he listen."

"What should I do?" Galo asked.

"Well, if I were the one confrontin' 'im, I'd just tackle 'im and scream my side of the story til he gives up. But you're like four times my size so you can't do that." She dumped the food in the trash. "I suggest we take a little inspiration."

Lucia pulled a stack of paperback manga out of the bag. The words were written in Spanish, so Galo couldn't understand it, but the pictures gave him a bad feeling.

"Are you sure..."

"Trust me. I know exactly what I'm dealing with. It's a typical scenario."

Galo frowned. "But isn't that..."

Lucia covered the manga and her taller friends mouth. "Shh! Don't forget." She nodded her head towards the teachers Funko Pop Doll collection, many of them being anime characters.

"Right..."

"So, here's the plan. You're gonna go up to 'im and..."

Wednesday morning, Galo sat waiting for lunch. The school's news channel was taking longer than usual with their new commercial about what to do during a lockdown. People kept glancing at him as his visible anxiousness grew. When the bell finally rang, he sprinted out to the commons.

When he got to the table, only Thyma and Natalia were there. No Lio.

"Have you seen Lio around today?"

"Oh, well..." Thyma paused.

"He's out by the bleachers," Natalia said. Thyma gave her a warning look. "What. He told you not to tell him. He didn't say anything about me."

"Wait... he really doesn't want to see me?" Galo asked.

"Seeing as how he basically pretended you didn't exist in class and in the halls, yes," Natalia said.

"Oh..."

"Galo...?" Thyma put her hand on his shoulder.

"But there's no sense in giving up! He has to listen!" Galo proclaimed, jumping up from his seat.

"Damn, you're serious?" Natalia asked.

"Of course!" Thyma and Galo said in unison.

"Go get 'em, Galo," Thyma shouted as Galo ran towards the doors at the other end of the commons.

"He's screwed," Natalia said.

"Yep," Thyma said with fake cheerfulness.

Galo sprinted outside, almost running into the railing. A couple of kids looked at him funny as he flailed you a stop. He looked around, trying to see if that familiar blond bob was anywhere. It took him too long of a minute. Lio was all the way down the stairs, staring at him with a mixture of betrayal and fury.

Lio quickly pulled up his hoodie. Black cat ears bouncing against his head as he took off. He sprinted up the stairs as best he could (short legs and large steps equals a slow escape). By the time he got to the top, Galo was already there.

Lio gasped as he found himself cornered against the wall. Galo was saying something, but all he could hear was his heart pounding. The world spun. He felt like a kid again, hiding from the rich man his parents seemed to love. Feeling all alone, the closet doors getting hotter and hotter by the second.

When Galo places a hand on his shoulder, he snapped back into reality. Lio faked a kick in between Galo's legs, slipping past when he automatically flinched. He ran down the stairs towards the fence, Galo chasing after him.

_That could have been bad. I could have-_

His toe caught on one of the steps. The world tilted. His arm swung out in front of him. He had just enough time to hear Galo shout "oh shit!" before he hit the ground, his arm crumpling beneath him.

A hot, tingly pain shot through his arm to his head, his vision going white with stars. He shrieked, shaking as the pain grew. He felt a pair of strong arms lift him up, carrying him bridle style back up the stairs and into the building.

His vision cleared enough to see they were headed to the nurses office. Galo was muttering apologies, kicked the door open. One look at Lio's arm and the nurse declared he needed to go to the emergency room. He heard Galo requesting to take him, saying it would cause less of a scene and that his last period was as a TA anyway. The nurse surprisingly agreed, writing them a note.

Galo went to the front desk to sign them both out before leading Lio out of the building and to his car. The trip there was awkwardly silent, the only noise being the staticky sound of the local old school hip hop radio station. Galo had to slam on the breaks once when someone cut him off. Lio hissed in pain, Galo responding, "sorry, sorry."

The ER was the same as always. People with multiple different cases of injury and illness checking in, only to wait for hours before they can go get fixed. Lio cradled his arm, hoping the lady at the front desk didn't question why his arm was bent funny.

"And you're here for?" The lady drawled.

"Broken arm," Lio told her.

"Family name?" She asked.

"Fotia."

"This you?" She turned the screen to see his picture.

"Yes..." Lio looked away. That picture was from middle school. His hair was much longer then.

"'Kay. You can go sit and wait over there. It'll take a few." She waved them off.

Lio wandered over to the waiting area, sitting down next to Galo. He felt the other's stare, but refused to acknowledge it. He shivered. Waiting rooms were always too cold. He felt Galo's arm carefully pull him closer. At least he cared.

He cared.

That's how he messed up.

He cared.

Getting back in the car with a full arm cast was a bit hard. It was a good thing Lio was left handed. Galo gave him a nervous smile as they buckled up.

"How, how are you feeling," he stuttered.

"Fine..." Lio mumbled. He reached out and grabbed Galo's hand. "I probably should have asked you earlier... is it true?"

Galo stared at him for a moment. "Yeah..."

"Oh."

"I wasn't gonna tell you. But it slipped out when I was talking to Aina," Galo explained. "I told her not to tell anyone, but she ended up telling a friend and they couldn't keep their mouth shut. I... I'm, I'm sorry. I should think more before I speak."

"I don't think I'm ready..." Lio said softly.

"Yeah?" Galo let out a nervous chuckle. "I don't think I'm ready either."

Lio smiled. "I should apologize too. For jumping to conclusions."

"Don't worry. I forgive you. Will... will you...?"

Lio looked him in the eye. "Don't worry. I forgive you too. And I don't forgive just anyone."

Galo laughed. "Guess it's my lucky day!"

Lio snorted. "Alright, lets go home. I've had enough hospitals for a lifetime!"

Galo woke up to a bunch of kissy face emojis from Lucia and Thyma. He smiled, texting them back with an 'I survived' before explaining what happened. He looked over to see Lio already awake, playing a video game on his phone.

Galo moved closer, wrapping his arms around his not-boyfriend. "What'cha playing?"

"Minecraft. We should get ready for school."

"Boo, you're no fun!" Galo whined. Lio patted his head.

"Sorry. Gotta be educated. Even if it's bullshit."

They got up. Lio pulled on one of Galo's t-shirts and a pair of leggings Aina let him borrow. For someone so jealous of him, she sure was nice. Galo walked back into the bedroom when he was sure Lio was done. The outfit was definitely one of his favorites, especially since it was his shirt.

Downstairs, Aina grabbed a hairbrush and scrunchie, claiming that Lio would look amazing with his hair tied back. Where the whole 'now we're besties' act was coming from, Lio didn't know. But it was better than being glared at.

"So, I hear you guys are back on good terms," Aina said when she and Lio had a moment alone.

"Yeah. I think it's better now that everything's cleared up," Lio agreed.

"I'm sorry."

"What?" Lio turned.

"I-I-I'm sorry," Aina repeated, shaking. "I-I blew it, it. I-I-I jus-t-t wanted-ed to-"

"Hey, hey! Shh. It's alright. You don't have to cry about it," Lio comforted, turning around to hug her.

Aina quickly wiped the tears away. "I shouldn't have, have judged you-u. I'm sorr-y."

"Well, I can forgive you. You aren't the worst person in my life," Lio said. He gave Aina a reassuring smile. "On the bright side, now we can be friends."

" _Really?!_ " Aina popped up.

"Only if you want to..." Lio faltered.

"Sure!" Aina exclaimed. "You're much nicer than you let on!"

"Thanks.. I guess? Wait, what do you mean let on?"

"You mean you don't... bwahaha!" Aina busted out laughing. "You don't even realize it!"

"What? Realize what?" Lio asked, looking around.

"You totally have a resting bitch face! Not to mention the fights and detention." Aina patted him on the back. "It's okay, though. You're cool."

“Hehe. Thanks, Aina.”

“ _What are you two doing!_ ” Galo shouted. “This is no time to gossip! We gotta go! Chop chop!”

“Alright, jeez!” Lio shot back. “Impatient much.”

Aina laughed in response.

The world seemed to get brighter. The crisp autumn air blowing back the dyed hair of high school students. The last remnants of a summery sunlight peaking through the trees. The crunch of reds and oranges underfoot. The last bits of October portrayed with bat decor and striped purple leggings.

Halloween was only a day away.


	9. ThIS iS HalLoWEeN

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “It’s just a bunch of hocus pocus”- Hocus Pocus

Multiple packs of temporary hair dye and a mountain of makeup glitter later, Lio Fotia was ready for the night. He was sadly unable to afford the wig for his costume, but luckily he had the same hairstyle. The costume was a white button up with short sleeves, a black tie and black shorts held up with suspenders.

"I can't believe you're cosplaying me!" Dia joked as she added more glitter.

"Haha, funny. Ouch! Watch the eyes!" Lio gasped.

He decided to wear a cosplay of Diamond from Houseki No Kuni, an anime and manga about humanoid beings who's bodies were made out of gems.

"Sorry." Dia grabbed some glittery lipgloss and grabbed Lio's face in her hand, squeezing him. "Hold still! It needs to be perfect."

"C'mon! It's not like this is a date," Lio whined.

Dia flicked him on the nose. "No, but it's Halloween and I'm not about to let you go over without looking sexy."

"I'm not mpft-"

"You can't tell me there isn't someone you're gonna try and impress. I know you. Besides, if there's a costume contest you'll totally win. Everyone knows the sexy costumes get the most prizes." She let go (finally) and Lio rubbed his jaw.

"You're so hung up on images. Whhyyyyy?" Lio complained.

"Don't you want to impress _him?"_ Dia teased.

Lio looked down at his cast. Galo's name was scribbled on with little smiley faces and hearts. "It's not like that and you know it."

"I've had to sit here and watch you two dance around each other for months!"

"Less than two," Lio commented nonchalantly.

"Still! I can't stand it. Why don't you want to be with him?" Dia gripped Lio's shoulders. The intense stare she gave him reminded him of the lamps shined in people's faces during an interrogation.

"Everyone assumes I like him. I don't even know how I feel. If I'm even ready," he sighed. He looked at himself in the mirror.

Delicate makeup that made him feel like some sort of dainty fairytale character. A skinny body that was so obviously unhealthy, but people thirst for it anyway. He looked 'perfect' in more ways than one, but all he could see was the flaws in that perfect.

He couldn't see himself with someone like Galo. So honestly good and healthy compared to him. Someone who looked more like a young adult. Someone who could easily get a significant other without even trying. Compared to Galo, he was just some twig of a person. A horrible, bossy personality.

Someone who stressed over the tiniest things.

It wasn't Galo whom he disliked.

And he hated to admit it.

Lio stood up. "Gueira should be here soon. See you later." He patted his sisters head, leaving her to sit on a stool in the bathroom.

"Have fun!" She called.

Lio walked through the hallway, past the staircase and to the front door. He paused, looking at the wall of pictures. Many people of all ages were in these frames. His parents on their wedding day, his uncles dog when he was a kid, the foster kids that used to live in this very house. It calmed him a little to know these people were out there, even if they aren't living today.

That's when he noticed a new one. Well, not new exactly. It was definitely something taken when he was little, and he felt like he'd seen it before, but it hadn't been put up until now. The photo was on one of his aunts wedding day. He was sitting on the stairs, his white lacy shirt and the only skirt he'd ever worn muddy and ripped. He had a gleeful expression, probably because he managed to get the one thing he despised dirty. Or maybe it was the cake he was sharing. Who he was sharing with surprised him the most.

"Galo..." Lio breathed.

The Galo in question wore an equally dirty dress shirt and pants. His grin was even wider than Lio's,gaze focused on the other child. Lio felt a flutter in his gut. Shifting around a bit, he tried focusing on the other pictures.

His eyes were just starting to drift back to the wedding photo when a he heard a pounding on the door. Jumping, Lio quickly threw open the door.

"Sup, bro!" Gueira said, leaning against the doorway. "Ready to party."

Gueira's costume was surprisingly fitting. A homemade costume of a character from a mythical based book series with fire powers. An orange t-shirt with a greasy button up, tool belt and jeans.

"Wouldn't it be like, sooo cool to have fire powers?" Gueira asked as he parked his car.

"I guess. The flames would have to be colorful, though," Lio said.

"What like teal?" Gueira chuckled.

"And pink."

"Sexy," Gueira joked, waving finger guns at Lio.

"Please don't," Lio sighed. He rubbed his temple as memories from earlier resurfaced.

They got out of the car and walked up to the house. It was a two story in a suburban neighborhood. Bikes and water guns littered the front lawn. The distinct sound of some family friendly country and pop tunes came from the backyard. Gueira raised an eyebrow before knocking on the front door.

"I'll get it!" A voice from inside shouted. A little boy in a zombie costume opened the door. "Hello! Wow you are tall!"

"Why thank you. I always make sure to drink my milk, you know," Gueira said with a pose.

"Ignore him," Lio said while pushing Gueira's face. "We're here for a party. Is this Lucia's house?"

"Lucia!" The little boy screeched. "People are here for you!"

"Yeah, yeah! Be there in a minute!" The distinct voice of a certain tiny teen called from inside. There was the sound of crashing and banging, some offended shouting, and something that sounded suspiciously like the sound of a cat getting hurt offscreen in a cartoon. Lucia herself jumped in front of the door. She wore a queen of hearts costume, though it was a few sizes too big and she had to wear a purple tank top underneath all of the blacks and reds. "Welcome, fellow Homo sapiens. The Fex-Castillo household welcomes ya," she said with a bow.

"You said welcome twice," the little boy said.

"Get out, Cas," Lucia said as she shoved her brother to the side. "Y'all must be cold. Come in! We got cupcakes~"

"Oh, fuck yes! I'm so hungry I could eat a horse," Gueira said, rubbing his belly. "Oh, um, what's a Homo sapien?"

"You are." Lucia smirked as she skipped into the kitchen.

"What?" Gueira asked, looking at Lio who tried not to laughed at his confusion.

"Don't worry about it," Lio reassured.

They followed Lucia into the kitchen, where an assortment of foods and candy spread. Twin baby girls sat in high chairs. They, like Lucia, had blonde hair. They stared at Gueira, who immediately went over to play with them.

"Who knew he'd be so good with kids," Lucia whispered to Lio, making him laugh.

Gueira, from the time they'd met, was quite something. The man was being dragged into detention after being caught trying to sneak rotten eggs into the teachers lounge. The security guard placed him by Lio, who at that point only ever fought Hastus, someone not even the security guards liked. Lio had somehow been put on babysitting duty while the teacher in charge tried to grade papers.

Gueira kept not-so-subtly glancing at Meis, whispering nonsense to Lio to the point of irritation. Lio snapped at him, but instead of getting huffy Gueira just laughed and patted his back. That was freshman year. Between the two of them, the freshman class had an interesting pair of troublemakers.

The rich kid who fought with anyone who dared hurt an innocent and the class clown who had a thing for the boy two years older than him. They called themselves 'mad burnish' as a joke, after accidentally setting off a fire during culinary while having an argument.

Quite the duo, they were.

Lucia guided Lio over to the food, pointing out all the candy she thought he'd like. "You seem like a chocolate guy," she said while waving a Hershey in his face.

"Wow. Spot on," he said while taking it. "My sister and uncle don't really eat it, so this is rare."

"Well, I'm glad I could help," Lucia said with a nod.

The doorbell rang and Lucia bolted, shouting, "stay the fuck away from the door, Cas!"

"Hey, watch your mouth!" A woman shouted at her as she entered the kitchen. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a bun and she wore pink glasses. Unlike Lucia, she had a bigger build. Her outfit was a pair of leggings and a t-shirt that had a sports logo on it. "Are you Lucia's friends? I'm Estela, her mom."

"Nice to meet you," Lio said, shaking her hand. "I'm Lio Fotia."

"Fotia...?" Estela muttered. "That sounds familiar..."

Lio felt his face flush. "My uncle is sort of well known."

"Ah, I see." She nodded.

Lucia whooped as she dragged Remi behind her, the blue haired man looking vaguely uncomfortable in his knight costume. "Why must you drag me..." he muttered, rubbing his temple.

Estela got excited, running up to Remi and pinching his cheeks. "How's my little Remi, huh?"

"Fine..." Remi shrank away, flushed from the bone crushing hug the woman trapped her in. He made eye contact with Lio, looking away just as quickly.

Remi's phone buzzed. He took it out and read a text. "My girlfriend just texted me. She just arrived."

Estela moved on to welcome the new guest. Lucia sat down on a stool and pulled out a bunch of movies. "Okay, before Aina arrives with the horrors, what do you wanna watch? We have Halloween Town, Hocus Pocus, the Nightmare Before Christmas-"

"Isn't That a Christmas movie?" Gueira asked.

"No!" "It's both!" Lucia and Lio replied. They squinted at each other.

"We also have Ghilbi and Over the Garden Wall," Lucia finished.

"I haven't seen Over the Garden Wall," Remi said.

_"You haven't!"_ Gueira and Lucia gasped in unison.

"God, Remi. Do you live under a rock?" A voice said from the hall. A tall girl with curly green hair and black skin walked in. "Babe, I thought I talked to you about this. You need to watch more children's media."

"Well _sorry_ I don't have time for anything besides school and watching Moomin with my cousins," Remi said with a roll of his eyes.

"Antheia! It's been forever!" Lucia squealed, running over to hug her.

"Oh, hey Lulu! How's public school?" Antheia asked. "Have a boo yet?"

"Ugh. You sound like mom," Lucia whined, rolling her eyes.

"Hey!" Estela said, walking back into the room.

"Other mom," Lucia corrected, waving her off.

"On behalf of my _wife_ , hey!" Estela said, resting her hands on her hips. 

"Wow, this place is the _shit_ ," Gueira said while shoveling chips in his face.

"You're gonna-" _*cough**cough*_ "choke," Lio said. His nose wrinkled at the sight.

"I should probably put the kids to bed before their first word is f-u-c-k. You kids have fun." Estela scooped up the twins and carried them up stairs.

The party was going great. Remi was being forced to watch a cartoon by his girlfriend, Gueira had eaten half the chips in the house, and Lucia busied herself to introducing all of her pets to Lio.

"And this is Vinny," Lucia said, lifting a tiny rat up to his face.

"He's cute," Lio said. He scratched under the rodents chin.

"Vinny!" The rat squeaked, running up Lio's arm.

"Did he just-"

"Say his name?" Lucia finished. "Where do ya think we got it, huh?"

"Oh." Lio bit into a chocolate bar.

The doorbell rang and Lucia jumped up to get it.

Lio flopped onto the couch, laying across Gueira's lap so he had better access to the chips. Gueira put his arms behind his head, looking up at the ceiling. "Y'know what? I've never actually met Galo."

"Okay...?" Lio's eyebrow raised.

"I'm just wondering what he's like. Gotta make sure you're hanging with the right people," Gueira reasoned with a shrug.

"You're in detention every week, mr. goody-two-shoes," Lio said. He grabbed a handful of chips.

"Heh. Got me there," Gueira said. "I just... don't want you to get hurt."

"What are you, my parent?" Lio shot.

Gueira ruffled his hair, smiling. "Might as well be."

Lio batted his hand away. "Are you gonna give me the talk too."

"I know just about as much as you do," Gueira said. "Though I can teach you how to cook some mean pancakes."

Lio was about to reply when Aina entered the room, shouting, "make way for the world's number one firefighting idiot!"

Galo jumped out of the hallway, hands on his hips. He wore a cheesy smile and red pants with a number three painted in yellow on the side, a complicated tool belt that seemed to disappear into the fabric and... well... no shirt. Lio averted his gaze, only to get a teasing poke to the forehead from Gueira. "Ow."

Galo lifted Lio's legs and took a seat on the couch. Lio tried to kick him in response but missed. Galo frowned. "Should you be sitting like that with a cast on?"

"Why do you care? You're the one who broke it," Lio sassed back.

Gueira snorted. "He's right Lio. Listen to mister firefighter over here."

"No!" Lio yelped as Galo scooped him up and sat him on his lap. Lio grumbled to himself.

"Hey, hey, hey. We do this because we care," Galo said. Lio tensed at the feeling of Galo's breath on his ear.

"Where the fuck is your jacket? Aren't you cold?" Lio tried to change the subject.

"Oh, so now you're worried about me?" Galo teased. Lio pushed the blue haired mans face away. "Mph. M' fine wrio," he tried to say through a squished face.

Lio stuck his tongue out. Galo chuckled, ears going red. He held Lio tighter, humming. Lio felt his face heat up, eyes darting towards the ceiling.

"Aww, you guys are cute," Gueira teased. Galolio choked in surprise while Lio launched the nearest pillow in Gueira's face.

"What?" Lucia piped up as she entered the room with a bag of gummy worms. "He's just sayin' y'all need to get a room."

"Lucia..." Aina warned. Galo had buried his face in Lio's back. Lio himself hung his head, cheeks aflame. Lucia just shrugged.

"Alright! Who's ready for some horror!" Antheia exclaimed.

By midnight Remi and Antheia were making out behind the couch, Lucia had fallen asleep with her face next to Aina's, snoring, and Gueira had left after throwing up from eating too much. Galo refused to sleep because the movie 'gave me too much energy' and Lio couldn't fall asleep with Galo shaking and holding him in a death grip.

Aina glanced down at Lucia and sighed. "Galo, you take Lio home. I can catch a ride with Lucia."

"Are you sure?" Galo asked. Aina nodded.

Galo lead Lio out to the car, trying not to make conversation with Lio being tired. It took a few moments, but Lio was finally able to buckle up. Galo smiled fondly. Quiet, staticky music filtered through the radio. Lio grabbed a jacket and wrapped it around himself. It was bright red with a number three painted on it. Lights blurred in Lio’s vision as he tried not to fall asleep, but eventually the world faded away.

When Lio woke, he was in his bed. He curled into the blankets for the last bits of sleep, the jacket still wrapped around him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Social media:
> 
> Tumblr:  
> https://friendlymochibat.tumblr.com/
> 
> Twitter:  
> https://mobile.twitter.com/pippylovespizza


	10. Pep assembly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: there are some homophobic and transphobic themes at the beginning of this chapter, as well as some mentions of violence/abuse (though not directly connected). These themes, while mostly implied, can still be hard to read for some viewers and I don't want to unintentionally cause stress or damage to my readers, so tread carefully please. Thank you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “IF YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENED IN THIS CHAPTER, PLEASE TELL ME, BECAUSE I HAVE NO CLUE” -Magnus Chase and The Gods of Asgard (Rick Riordan)

Lio stood in front of the mirror. Aina had begged him earlier that day to come to her house for dinner. Not only that, but she required _nice clothes_. Since when had Lio ever passed up the chance to flex on people with his intense fashion statements. Honestly, if owning a book cafe didn't work out he might have become a fashion designer.

So there he was, wearing tight leather pants with an insane amount of belts around his waist and legs, a white shirt that his sister lovingly referred to as 'the Pirate Shirt' and knee high boots. He looked iconic. He turned around to make sure it wasn't too tight around his butt (you never know who might be there, and he didn't want strangers staring) only for his sister to pop her head into the room and shout, "flat ass!" Lio grabbed the nearest pillow and launched it, Dia running away with a cackle.

Lio dragged a stool in front of the mirror and pulled out his makeup kit. He had recently bought a mint shade of eyeliner and wanted to test it out. When he finished Dia came up behind him and sprinkled glitter over him. Lio quickly closed his eyes.

"Gah! A little warning next time?!" He grumbled.

"Just be glad I'm here to help," Dia said. She leaned forward so her lips were close to Lio's ear. "Flat ass."

Lio screeched and threw the nearest stuffed toy, which happened to be Hatsune Miku. Blue pigtails soared across the room as Dia made a run for it, hitting her in the back. She turned her head and stuck her tongue out.

The doorbell rang and Lio got up. He hugged Dia goodbye before heading downstairs. Aina was leaning against the door frame when Lio opened it, wearing a plain black dress, skirt going just past her knees, and red cons. Her pink hair was starting to get brown at the roots. She popped her gum and waved.

"Sorry about this, but we have a visitor coming over and I need help," she said.

"Okay," Lio nodded. "What's the plan?"

When they got in the car Aina began to explain. "There's this guy running for governor. For whatever reason, he's trying to convince Heris to encourage all the people working for the school district to vote for him. I honestly hate his guts but Galo doesn't seem to mind him, despite what he did. He's also kind of... closed minded..."

The look Aina gave him was that look he got many times before, when someone was about to introduce him to an openly hateful parent. "Let me guess. Transphobic."

Aina nodded. "And homophobic. I hate having to bring you into this but it might be our last chance to boot him from the house for good. He thinks he's _so_ entitled just because he was the only other survivor of the fire. Like him and Galo have that to bond over. It's sick."

"So I'm guessing you want me to act as gay as humanly possible and hope he breaks," Lio said.

"Precisely," Aina agreed. "But if it becomes too

much don't hesitate to leave."

Lio grinned. "Well then," he said, pulling out a leather jacket with pride pins and patches all over it. "It's a good thing I brought this."

Galo practically jumped on Lio when he saw him. The man was apparently very into glittery Lio. Glittery Lio was not into the lack of personal space. After gently pushing Galo out of the way, he got a better view of the house. Fall decorations were up, most likely for the upcoming holiday. Heris was busy setting the table while a dog bounced around her legs. Wait- a dog?

The corgi puppy yapped happily, finally noticing the new guest. They ran up to Lio, jumping at his boots. Lio laughed and reached his hand down for the puppy to sniff (which it was very eager to do).

"Since when did you have a corgi?" Lio asked.

"Since yesterday!" Galo shouted from the living room. "We still haven't named him yet."

"Yeah, because you wanted to name it after Lio over here," Aina cut in.

"Not L-I-O, Aina," Galo said, face suddenly flushed red. "L-E-O! Like the book character."

"It would get too confusing," Aina argued.

"I like the name," Heris said.

"Not you too!" Aina gasped.

"Lio! What do you think?" Galo asked. Suddenly all three pairs of eyes were on him. Lio stared at the puppy. It stared back. He smiled softly. It reminded him of the old lady's corgis his aunt used to live next door to, back in Detroit.

"Detroit..." Lio mumbled. He looked Galo in the eye. "I think he should be named Detroit."

The dog hopped at the word. Aina shrugged. "I guess it's cute."

Galo ran to the dog, cooing, "is your name Detroit? Is it? Is it?"

He picked up the dog and faced Lio, both him and his new best friend wearing the same dopey grin. For a split second Lio thought about taking that stupid face and kissing that stupid grin off of Galo's face. He felt warmth spread across his face as he shook the thought out of his head.

That's when a heavy knock pounded on the door. "That must be him," Heris said, moving to open the door. "Why don't you kids go wash up for dinner."

"Yes ma'am." "Alright." "Okay, sis." *bark*

The three of them raced to the kitchen, Detroit weaving between their legs.

"Oh, I can't wait for you two to meet! Kray's like the coolest!" Galo exclaimed.

Lio froze. "Kray... Foresight?" He slowly turned his head to the entry hallway, where a tall blond man in a white suit shook hands with Heris. Suddenly the world seemed to tilt. His heart raced, hands gripping the counter.

"Uh... Lio? You okay?" Galo tried to put a comforting hand on Lio's shoulder, only to be pushed away.

Lio ran. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Up the stairs, down the hall, and into the bathroom. He locked the door, collapsing on his knees. His arm throbbed in its cast, and he realized he probably rammed it into the wall. His eyes stung as he choked on his breath.

That hand, delicately covered with a glove. That same hand got burnt. The other he lost. But it was the burnt one that scared him the most.

Lio heard the floorboards creak outside the door. Someone knocked gently.

"Lio?" Aina whispered softly. "You good?"

Then Galo's voice, desperate, "Lio _please_. Talk to us."

Lio gasped. He leaned his forehead on the door, feeling a weight shift on the other side. He took a moment to ground himself before peeking out the door. Galo sat with his back to the door, Aina standing above him. Lio took a deep breath.

"Can we talk in private?"

They sat in a circle around a purple carpet in Galo's room. Galo had his arm around Lio, rubbing comforting circles on his back. Aina took Lio's unwounded arm, fingers laced together. Lio looked down at the carpet, avoiding eye contact.

"Kray... used to work with my parents," Lio started. "He was... jealous... I guess is the right way to put it. Because my parents had more money. They worked there for longer, and saved up a lot."

"So they were rich," Aina said. Lio nodded.

"The thing about Kray... he-he took it out on me. His jealousy. His anger. My parents would invite him over, and when they weren't looking..." he took a deep breath. "He would hit me."

Galo's grip tightened, body becoming tense. Aina gasped, hand unconsciously covering her mouth.

Lio continued. "One day, I retaliated. I didn't think I was that strong, but when I pushed him... his hand... it landed on a burner. That's why he wears gloves."

The sting in his eyes came back. Aina pounded her fist into the floor. "I just knew it! He is evil. That fucker deserved to get his hand burnt!"

"Aina...?" Galo breathed. Then louder, "no one deserves to get burnt!"

"What! So you're on his side?" Aina accused.

"No! I-I I'm just saying no one deserves to get-"

"He hit Lio! He's abusive! Cruel! Evil! He's a mother fucking bitch!"

"Aina," Lio cut in. "No one deserves to get burnt, but what happened happened." He felt his voice crack. "I just-"

Lio hid his face in Galo's shoulder, unable to finish. He felt something wet on the back of his neck, and he too began to cry.

"I'm... gonna give you two some space," Aina said. She got up and walked out, making sure the door was closed behind her.

_They really have it tough. They need each other_ , she decided. _And I have someone to confront._

"H-I-G-H S-C-H-O-O-L," Thyma chanted, wearing a maroon and white cheerleading uniform. She swung her pom-poms around in the locker room. "W-O-L-F! We are the wolves!"

All of the other freshmen girls howled and bounced. One girl did a backflip towards the the showers.

"Hey, hey! Save the cartwheeling for the assembly. You don't want to have a broken leg instead of a date to homecoming!" The captain of the cheer squad shouted. Her frizzy black hair was pulled in pigtails and she yelled everything through a megaphone. "Nice cheering Thyma! Tie your shoelace!"

"Yes ma'am!" Thyma saluted her.

"Alright! Let's go!" The captain shouted. The bubbly group skipped out of the lockers and up the stairs.

Pep assembly's were nothing to laugh at. Loud, colorful students filled the bleachers. Remi sat at the far corner of the band group, clutching his instrument like his life depended on it. Lucia was busy helping the teachers set up the microphones. Lio sat at the bottom row with Galo, cheering on Aina as she waved a gold flag in the air. Gueira got a hold of the streamers and was launching them at the senior section. He managed to hit Ceres upside the head.

Varys walked out with a mic, tapping it to make sure it was on. He cleared his throat. "Alright, alright! I know you're excited, as this is our homecoming assembly. I know the football team is excited."

A bunch of bulky young men began whooping and cheering. The cheerleaders jumped and shook their pompoms.

"But..." Varys stopped to let everyone settle down. "We also must remind everyone that the men's bathroom doors in the third floor second hallway need to be returned." A chuckle rose out of the crowd. "It was funny the first time, but we don't need it to become a regular issue.

"Now, please give it up for our ASB president!"

A girl with brown hair and freckled skin walked out with a mic.

She began to announce the homecoming court, all of them being preppy straight couples that no one but their friends cared about. Lio leaned on Galo's shoulder as a cheerleader and a baseball player ran out doing flips and over the top dance moves to cheesy outdated pop songs.

Galo smiled at Lio. "You'll alway be my king," he whispered with a smirk. Lio softly punched him with his uninjured arm. The two of them giggled, only to be shushed by Haestus. He leaned against the wall glaring at them. Lio made a face which caused Galo to laugh more.

Someone threw an orange, and it hit Galo in the head. Lio glared back in the general direction. A group of guilty guys laughed and fumbled with more food in the back.

Galo put a hand on Lio's shoulder. "Hey, could have been worse. Could have been a con-"

He was hit smack in the face with a soggy sandwich.

"That's it!" Lio shouted. He gripped the orange so tight juice squirted out of it. He launched it back up the bleachers, but one of the guys pulled a poor girl in front of him so she got hit instead.

"You bitch!" She slapped him and moved.

"Fotia! Thymos!" Haestus barked. "Outside now!"

Lio leaned against the wall, watching Galo argue with Haestus. The math teacher got in Galo's face, practically spitting he was so mad. The problem was that Galo was good at defending Lio. He even threatened to drag security into it.

"If Lio has to get in trouble, then those kids up there deserve ten times more!" Galo shouted. "Just look at what happened to Juno!"

"Juno would not have gotten hit if Lio didn't throw it in the first place!" Haestus countered.

"Well Lio-" "Galo?"

All three heads turned. A tall blond man in a white suit stood at the door at the other side of the room. Both Galo and Lio paled.

"Kray?" Galo and Lio said in unison. Lio instantly ran for Galo, peeking out from behind him. Haestus laughed.

"Look here, mr. Foresight! These two delinquents are learning a lesson!" He said.

"But Vulcan... Galo is like a nephew to me. Why would he get in trouble?" Kray looked confused.

"I-I-I, well... because," Haestus started, avoiding eye contact.

"Because some kids were throwing food at students. Lio here decided to stand up to them," Galo cut in.

Kray seemed to get his first good look at Lio. "I see," he said, adjusting his glove. Something about his expression changed. "Carry on." He walked into the gym, shoes squeaking on the tiled floor.

Vulcan Haestus looked at them, victorious. Until Ignis walked in.

Ignis was one of the security guards, and a retired firefighter. He was generally nice and always heard the students out. They sat in his tiny office while he reviewed the camera footage.

"Justice will be served to those kids, I assure you," Ignis started. "But I cannot ignore your retaliation Lio, nor can I ignore Galo fighting with Haestus. I'll give you both a detention, but know that the others will have a harsher punishment."

He seemed to study them behind his sunglasses. "I'll also write you a note home incase you wish to cool down."

Lio must have looked shaken. Galo was also red in the face, though probably for a different reason. They wished Ignis a good day and headed towards the parking lot. Lio gripped Galo's arm like a lifeline. Kray Foresight, in the flesh. The cold stare. The glove. He wanted to disappear into Galo's jacket and never come out.

Galo seemed to be having a silent battle in his head. His movements were robotic as he unlocked the car and helped Lio get in. He drove in silence, barely sparing a glance in Lio's direction. Part of him thanked Galo for the silence, even if it was coming from a bad place.

They got to Galo's house, nobody being home yet. Heris was probably helping kids with missing work. She never liked assemblies. Aina would be waving her golden flag, rallying the sophomores. Gueira was left alone in the stands, probably pining after Meis sitting across the gym with a bucket and drumsticks. Thyma was definitely catching the eyes of many students with her flips and cheers. Lucia would be showing off her tech skills to teachers who couldn't operate computers correctly. Remi would be flirting with his girlfriend and playing the school fight song. Detroit was at a doggy day care until heris got off.

Galo and Lio got inside, collapsing on the couch. Galo started channel surfing, a dull look in his eyes. Lio hated that look. He grabbed Galo’s face and turned it towards him.

“Galo...” he breathed. Something seemed to break inside of both of them. Galo began to cry. Lio held him tighter, fighting back his own tears. He rubbed Galo’s back, whispering reassurances to him.

They cried for at least an hour, a cooking show playing in the background. Lio got up and got a bag of chips and some water for both of them. He sat back down and snuggled against Galo. Despite the temptation of food, Galo started to drift off. Lio looked up at his sleepy friend. He pulled a blanket around them and scooted so Galo could properly lay down with Lio on top of him. Lio sighed, somehow content just laying with Galo.

He looked up Galo’s drooling state and smiled, a soft flush spreading across his nose. He didn’t even restrain the urge, pressing his lips against Galo’s cheek. Soon he to faded to sleep, dreaming about winning a cupcake challenge with Galo.


	11. Hold me and never let go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You are my sunshine...

Feelings are hard to decipher. Lio always had trouble with them. Waking up, stuck between the couch cushions and Galo's warm body, he finally confirmed that itch he couldn't seem to scratch. Galo had been there for him, despite it meaning he couldn't look at certain people the same.

It was almost midnight, Galo snoring softly. Lio smiled, giddiness washing over his whole body. He yawned and pulled out his phone. The camera turned on and Lio was hit with a surprise shot of his nose. His stomach rumbled along with the realization that he hadn't eaten since breakfast.

He tried wiggling out of Galo's arms, but Galo wasn't helping at all. He made a sound of discomfort and wrapped himself tighter around Lio. Lio groaned into Galo's chest. He just wanted food, goddammit!

"Galo..." Lio whispered. Galo didn't move. Lio ran a hand through Galo's hair, fingers gently scratching the shaved areas. "Galo. Galo! Pizza!"

"Wa-huh?! Pizza?" Galo sat up quickly, looking around. He looked down at Lio's face squished against him. "Oh, sorry Lio!"

Galo helped Lio sit up properly. Lio laughed and pressed a finger to Galo's lips. "Shh, people are sleeping. I wanted to know if you wanted something to eat."

"Pizza?" Galo said against Lio's finger, giving his best puppy eyes.

"Fine. Pizza," Lio said with an eye roll. He crawled over Galo and headed for the kitchen.

Lio dug through the freezer, finally finding the one pizza that didn't have an absurd amount of toppings. He handed it to Galo, who read the box and started the oven. Lio came up behind him and wrapped his arm around him.

"You have a tiny waist," Lio sighed against Galo's back. He felt the larger body shake as Galo let out a laugh.

"And you have a tiny body," Galo said.

"Watch it," Lio warned, but there wasn't an ounce of seriousness in his tone.

Galo turned around and leaned against the counter. He enveloped Lio in his muscular arms. "Do your worst," he joked with an overconfident grin.

Lio smiled sweetly. "You sure you want this, love?"

Watching Galo's smile slip and ears go red was absolutely perfect to witness. Lio cackled and cupped Galo's face in his hands. "You're cute like this."

Galo's smile returned at full force. "Only for you, babe," he said with a wink. Lio felt his face warm up.

He looked down and fidgeted. "God, why can't I just..."

"Just what?" Galo asked with a tilt of his head. Lio froze.

He took a breath. "Do you want to dance?"

"Now?"

"Not now, idiot!" Lio lightly scolded. "I mean at homecoming- for homecoming... whatever."

Chuckling at Lio's pout, Galo lifted Lio's chin so they made eye contact. "Yes, of course. I'd go dance in hell if you would be mine."

Lio let out a relieved laugh. Galo couldn't help but compare it to the ringing of bells. He leaned down and kissed Lio on the cheek. Lio's eyes won't wide, his skin reddening from his ears to his neck. He covered his face with his hand in an attempt to hide the embarrassment. Galo gently peeled that hand away, pressing a gentle kiss against the back.

"Is that a yes?" Lio asked quietly.

"Yes," Galo said. His voice sounded a bit rough, probably from sleep.

Lio sighed, leaning into his arms when the oven beeped. He wanted to whine but instead carefully extracted himself from Galo's arms so they could finish the pizza.

As he leaned down to put the pizza in, Galo asked, "does this mean we're like, a thing or...?"

"I-uh. Um. I-I guess we could be... only if you want, I mean-crap, I'm bad at this," Lio stuttered. Galo laughed in response.

He set the timer and turned to Lio. "My god, you know what this means, right?" He asked, cupping Lio's face.

"We're in love...?" Lio tried with a nervous smile.

Galo broke out into a grin. "Lio Fotia is my boyfriend!" He shouted, wrapping his arms around the smaller man. "Lio Fotia is my boyfriend! Lio Fotia is-mpfft!"

Lio shoved his palm against Galo's mouth, face tomato red. "Shh, people are sleeping," he scolded.

"Yeah, Galo! People were sleeping." Aina flicked on the light. "Are you guys cooking pizza in the dark?"

"Yep!" Galo said. "We haven't eaten anything all day."

Aina rubbed her temples. "Whatever, just keep it down. Heris is trying to sleep."

"Okay-ouch!" Lio pinched Galo's arm and he dropped him. "You could have asked."

Lio stuck his tongue out teasingly.

"So... you guys are dating now?" Aina asked. "I thought you didn't like him that way."

Lio frowned. _Right, Aina also has a crush._

"I didn't know what I felt," Lio defended.

"Yeah, right," there was that bitter look in her eyes. Lio had hoped to never see it again.

Aina turned on her heel and walked out, her footsteps forced to be quiet. A sudden wave of guilt washed over Lio. Then something bitter he scowled. Aina was always like that, acting bitchy when she thought Lio was a threat, but seemingly nice when he wasn't. Why didn't she just move on. She never made a move. Hell, Galo wasn't even interested. How could he when all she did was stare at him.

Galo looked at Lio then back at where Aina stood. Something had happened between the two of them, he was sure of it. But the look on their faces scared him. If he pushed it... no. It wasn't right. Sure, they got off to a shaky start, but that was just Aina being protective, right? It probably just resurfaced.

He gave Lio a nervous smile. Whatever was going on, he hoped it would not last. He lifted Lio's face, but his boyfriend pulled away. Whatever happened between those two, it ruined the mood.

"I-I'm gonna go sit," Lio said, pointing to the living room.

"Oh. Okay," Galo said with a nod, unable to keep the disappointment off of his face.

Even when upset, Galo couldn't deny Lio's beauty. It was probably awful to be pulled in by looks, but that's what happened. One look at those golden-pink eyes and he was in love. And nothing like it has ever happened. Sure, he's had boyfriends and girlfriends, but none really captured him like Lio did.

He remembered one time during lunch, Thyma said something that made Lio laugh. His nose was red and he had a bit of grape jelly on his chin. Freckles dotted his face from being out in the sun. Lio had his hair partially tied back, the rest framing his face in a mint hue.

His laugh was a cute one. The kind that was soft but bold, with a snort sneaking in. And those eyes. Sparkling in the rays of the late morning sun as he leaned against the window. Those eyes watered, eyelashes turned a slight shade of green.

Galo caught himself smiling at the memory. He hoped there would be more of them.

The timer eventually beeped. Galo brought a few slices to Lio. They ate in silence, the muted tv playing an anime about a boy who gets superpowers after eating hair. Tired, Lio leaned against Galo.

Galo scooped up Lio and carried him to the bedroom. Lio went to the closet to change, Galo giving him one of his shirts and an old pair of shorts. When Lio returned they collapsed into bed, fading into the world of dreams.

Lio woke up to a whole new world. The comforting weight of Galo's arm thrown over him, a faint smell of something sugary tickling his nose. Lio smiled, closing his eyes and letting the giddiness seep into his skin. It was just over a week ago that he broke his arm because he just could not handle his feelings. He was never someone who dated much, his options being less than impressive. But now, he didn't regret a thing.

He pressed closer to Galo, letting himself relax. Galo...

The man himself stretched his arm out before hugging Lio tighter. "Mornin'..." he mumbled, lips pressed into Lio's hair.

"Morning, sleepyhead," Lio cooed affectionately. "Did you have good dreams?"

"I dreamt that Remi had to beat a pterodactyl at a game of poker," Galo said with a content grin on his face.

"Oh," Lio said, baffled.

"Yeah, the pterodactyl was gonna eat him if he lost. Woke up before the end, though. I hope he won." Galo snuggled against Lio.

Lio snorted. _Only Galo._

If there was one word to describe Galo, Lio decided, that word would be goofy. He always managed to make his day, no matter what shit they got into.

Lio untangled his limbs from Galo's, wrapping one of the smaller blankets to shield his shoulders from the crisp morning air. "C'mon, Sunshine. I think I smell french toast."

"With cinnamon?" Galo's voice, muffled by the pillow, said hopefully.

"Only one way to find out," Lio says.

"I'm up," Galo mumbled, droopily dragging himself out of bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ——
> 
> Notes: hey, guys. This chapter is a bit shorter due to having a busy schedule. I didn't want to leave you guys hanging so using what time I had outside of school and my other hobbies this was the result. 
> 
> 🔥🔥🔥
> 
> Psst... 
> 
> Hey...
> 
> I'm working on a new Promare fic...
> 
> Pls come check it out...
> 
> The title is witches who burn.

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: https://friendlymochibat.tumblr.com/
> 
> Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/pippylovespizza


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